I thought I'd have a go at swapping out the axles on an old Tyco/Mantua "Santa Fe" box car. I have two pf them so lousing up one isn't much of a concern. In addition to hving a metal frame (it only took 1 ounce of weight to get it to meet NMRA standards) the trucks are metal. Using the method of squeezing on end to loosen the other enough to remove the axle doesn't seem to work. The trucks and horn-n-hook are together. Any suggestions?
Do the trucks look like this?
If you want to keep the metal trucks and truck mounted X2F or hook-horn coupler and just change out the wheels and axles...cut the old axles and remove the wheels and axles, then cut the new PLASTIC AXLE with METAL WHEELS or METAL AXLE with PLASTIC WHEELS and sleeve them back together again when installed in the old trucks and gauge the wheels and CA glue the sleeve and axle. IF THE AXLE IS METAL WITH INSULATED METAL WHEELS, BE SURE TO KEEP THE INSULATED WHEELS ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE TRUCK.
But why keep the old metal trucks? Change the trucks for something newer and body mount the couplers, Kadees?
If you try to pry open these metal truck side frames to remove and replace an axle/wheel set, both the side frames will be loose now on the bolster.
A few things to figure out:
How to mount the new trucks
How then to get the car at the right height
How to mount the couplers--at the right height
Ed
I had quite a few of those old Tyco/Mantua cars. My solution was to throw away the trucks, wheels, couplers and all. I bought new Kadee couplers and draft gear boxes, plus 2-56 screws to mount them. I used an electric drill to drill a hole in the frame and body-mounted the couplers.
I was in the process of replacing all my plastic wheels with metal wheelsets from Intermountain, so I had lots of new wheelsets. I bought plastic trucks from Tichy. I covered the bearing holes and the center hole and sprayed them with rust-colored primer. I weather's them with powders and then gave them a spray of flat sealant. I prepared the truck bearings with a Micromark Truck Tuner and then I put in the new wheels and attached the trucks to the cars.
The cars look better and roll more smoothly with much less friction.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasley I had quite a few of those old Tyco/Mantua cars. My solution was to throw away the trucks, wheels, couplers and all. I bought new Kadee couplers and draft gear boxes, plus 2-56 screws to mount them. I used an electric drill to drill a hole in the frame and body-mounted the couplers. I was in the process of replacing all my plastic wheels with metal wheelsets from Intermountain, so I had lots of new wheelsets. I bought plastic trucks from Tichy. I covered the bearing holes and the center hole and sprayed them with rust-colored primer. I weather's them with powders and then gave them a spray of flat sealant. I prepared the truck bearings with a Micromark Truck Tuner and then I put in the new wheels and attached the trucks to the cars. The cars look better and roll more smoothly with much less friction.
If you go with the MisterBeasley method, which is a good one. Don't throw away the trucks and wheels...cut off the coupler box as far back as you can and set the trucks around the repair track or on a flat car. You may want to sand those large wheel flanges down some to look more realistic.
PC101Don't throw away the trucks and wheels...cut off the coupler box as far back as you can and set the trucks around the repair track or on a flat car. You may want to sand those large wheel flanges down some to look more realistic.
I'd toss the trucks and couplers...if you want wheels for a trackside scene, the ones available from Tichy have good detail, are true-to-scale, and moulded in an appropriate rust colour, too.
They're the ones on the ground, near the converted MoW boxcar...
However, the trucks in the photo above are not all that prototypical.
The Tichy wheelsets come with racks, which can be stacked...
and used as one or two piece loads for open cars like flats or gondolas...
...and you can place leftover wheel sets anywhere that you think might look prototypical.
Wayne
@PC101 - As Don Rickles would have said, "You get a cookie". The newest car on my layout is over 10 years. The oldest is from 1956 (all steel coal hopper with operating dump doors). Thank you everyone for your suggestions. All I can say now is, "Hello, Hobbylinc. May I return some unopened axles?"